


Pieces and Parts

by donniedont



Series: Queer Punk Rock AU [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Punk, Hook-Up, Oral Sex, Other, Pining, Polyamory, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-11
Updated: 2014-07-11
Packaged: 2018-02-08 08:54:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1934661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donniedont/pseuds/donniedont
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Armin is with Eren and Jean has feelings toward Marco.  But even with this information out in the open, Jean still accepts the invitation to hook up with Armin. (Featuring dfab non-binary Armin and trans man Marco)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pieces and Parts

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic that is a companion of sorts to the [Queer Punk Rock AU](http://agenderreid.tumblr.com/tagged/queer-punk-rock-au) I've been writing about on my Tumblr. This is set within the same AU as "Good Luck (You're Gonna Need It). A full length fic is in the process of being written and will be published shortly. I hope you're as excited about it as I am!
> 
> Other than that, Armin is non-binary and uses he/his pronouns. Also, while this fic is focused on Jean/Armin, however, there is smatterings of Eren/Armin and Jean/Marco throughout the fic. Just remember that at its core, it is a Jean/Armin fic and all will be well. The title is a lyric from "Mechanical" by Lemuria.

Jean knocked on the door, feeling as if he was being watched.

He wasn’t sure what to make of his predicament.  A few days ago he was talking to Armin about whatever they usually talked about and before he knew it, they were whispering pretty racy things to each other as their housemates made dinner.  And by whispering racy things together, what he really meant was that Armin would hiss a breathy “sh” toward him and place his finger on his lips as he claimed he wanted to do the most filthy things to him with his tongue.

It would have easily been one of the hottest moments in Jean’s brief list of sexual encounters if Armin wasn’t kind of with Eren.  Well, definitely with Eren.  For three years.  And to make things even more complicated, Jean was not quite with Marco, but he wanted to be.  They were even sharing a bed sometimes.

Jean Kirschstein was not the kind of guy who willingly facilitated cheating.

However, he really, truly thought that Armin Arlert was not the kind of person who cheated, either.

And yet, he still accepted the invitation and now stood at Armin (and Eren’s) bedroom door, kind of excited, but also horrified.

The door swung open, exposing Jean to Eren, who was stuffing the pockets of his hoodie with his cell phone and other electronics.

“Ah… hi!” Jean blurted, instantly regretting it.

Eren shrugged, opening the door wider.  “Come in,” he told Jean, fishing an earbud out of his pocket.

Jean entered, pushing his bangs back as he turned to Armin.  Armin glanced up at him as he adjusted the pillows on his bed.

“How long is this going to take?” Eren asked.

“Not sure,” Armin replied, “Hey, Jean, how long do you think this will be?”

“Wait, Eren’s… like… in the know?” he asked.

“Why <i>wouldn’t</i> I know?” Eren asked, glaring at Jean.

“Ah, well… I mean… I don’t really know!”

“I don’t think it’s the best idea.  I mean, he can do better.  But he is allowed to be with whoever he wants.”

Under normal circumstances, Jean would have already been grabbing him by his collar, hollering incoherently.  Under “pretty much getting the blessing to bang this person’s really hot date friend” circumstances, he stayed where he was in the doorway, nodding his head.  

Eren turned to Armin and smiled.  “How about I knock on the door sometime around eleven?”

“Eleven sounds good,” Armin said, walking over to Eren.  He hooked their fingers together, returning the smile.

Jean didn’t typically aspire to be anything like Eren, but wished he could have a relationship that successfully lasted for years like he had.  He wasn’t entirely sure he could handle the open relationship aspect, but he was young.  He could learn.

Eren let go of Armin’s hands and made his way toward the door, bumping his shoulder with Jean’s as he left and closed the door behind him.

Armin approached Jean, his smile no longer as warm as it was toward Eren, but still present.  “I’m glad you could make it,” he murmured.

Jean tilted his head down to make eyes at him.  “So you’re… what’s going on between you two exactly?”

“We’re in an open relationship,” Armin explained, shrugging.  “We’ve been that way for a pretty long time.”

“Did you… have you… with anyone else in the house?”

“Not really?  I made out with Marco a few times, but most of that happened freshman year when we were roommates.  Eren usually hooks up with musicians passing through.”

Jean ignored the way his chest ached at the thought of Armin being able to hook up with Marco before he could even tell Marco that he had feelings for him.  “But you’re still together-together?”

“Yeah.  I really don’t get why you think this is an issue?  I mean, why would you accept my invitation if you weren’t aware?”

Jean opened his mouth.  He knew exactly why he accepted without entirely thinking it through.  It was because he had blue eyes, the back of his hair was shaved and dyed green, and he was bright enough that he could run an obscene amount of shows from their basement while still maintaining an impressive GPA.  That was entirely ignoring how it was an open secret among their group of friends that he was good at sex.  

There were also parts of Jean’s actions stained with the whole “I keep holding Marco’s hand and cuddling with him” business as well as the wonderful sensation of “I’ve been leaning on physical interactions with Marco and have not actually told him I dig him, even though it’s probably super obvious by now.”

“Should we start?” Jean asked, trying his best to focus on the person in front of him who made direct statements to him about his feelings toward him.

Armin grabbed him by the shirt and tossed him on the bed.  He straddled him, finally letting go of his shirt.  “Chest is off limits today,” he announced, “It’s not always. But… it is sometimes.  You get used to it.”  He rolled his hips briefly.  “I’m fine with penetration, as long as you prep for it.  And don’t be hellbent on getting me off, but please give me some kind of attention.  How about you?”

Jean hovered his hands over Armin’s hips.  “How about what now?” he asked.

“What do you like or don’t like?”

“Uh… I mean… I like pretty much everything…” he looked up, staring at the map that hung over the backboard of the bed.  It was marked with Post-It notes and thumbtacks with locations that Eren and Armin wanted to visit.  “I mean, I guess I don’t really like when my nipples are tweaked?”

“That’s it?”

“I mean… I like butt stuff?  But I don’t really think I want to do it tonight.”

For a moment he imagined Armin straddling him in nothing but a strap on and a harness.  Hopefully his and Eren’s open relationship policy allowed him to be able to hook up with the same person twice.

Armin nodded, leaning in toward his face.  “Tell me if you need to stop,” he ordered.

“I don’t… need…” Jean started.  He stopped when he saw an intensity burning in Armin’s eyes that he couldn’t recall seeing before.  “Oh.  You… you mean it.”

Armin proceeded to stare him down, slowly nodding his head.  

“I will,” Jean replied, clearing his throat before he repeated it.  

Armin relaxed, leaning in toward Jean to kiss his lips.  Jean happily kissed back, surprised when Armin’s hands ran up his arms and grabbed for his hands.  Jean broke the kiss to say, “Rumor has it you have quite the toy collection under your bed.”

“There’s a lot of rumors about me.  There’s rumors about all of us.  Running a show house attracts a lot of attention.”

“Yeah, but something tells me there’s some truth to this rumor.”

“Be good and I’ll show you sometime.”

Jean’s eyes widened.  That definitely sounded like Armin could hook up with the same person twice.

“We don’t need to be performing roles, you know,” Armin said, loosening his grip on his wrists, “I’m used to being this way, but… that’s just because that’s how Eren and I work.”

Jean twisted his wrists around, realizing that Armin’s grip was just loose enough to do so.  “Do you always change up between running everything and asking your partner stuff?”

“Kind of.  With new partners, at least.”

Jean shrugged.  “Well, I mean, you can be kind of rough?  I don’t usually get to be like this.”

Armin leaned back, tilting his head.  “But you want to?”

“I mean, I kind of faced the fact that even if I got with Marco, I wouldn’t be able to do certain things.”

“Perhaps.  He seemed pretty against it whenever we’ve brought it up.”

“How do you know that?”

Armin shrugged.  “We were roommates all last year.  We had conversations like that fairly frequently.”  He turned to face the clock on the night stands and cringed.  “Hey, I have an idea.  Let’s put a moratorium on talking about Marco, all right?  I’m not him and I certainly don’t fuck like him.”

Jean reached out, placing his hand on the back of Armin’s neck.  “I’d hope not,” he whispered, pulling him down to kiss him.  Armin moaned a cat-like noise escaping from the back of his throat as he continued to kiss him.  Jean turned on his side topping Armin out of his straddling position and fit him against him as he yanked at his clothes.

Armin shoved his hands behind Jean and grabbed his ass.  Jean squeaked, curling up closer to Armin.  Armin eventually moved his hands to his shirt and used it to pull himself up on top of him.  He removed his shirt and ran his hands down Jean’s chest.  He smirked and resumed kissing him on the lips.  Jean grabbed at the hem of Armin’s shirt, but quickly let go.  Armin nodded his head and brought his hands back into his collar.

Jean helped him pull his shirt off.  Jean paused to take him in only to have Armin slam into him.  Jean shut his eyes, enjoying the feeling of skin against skin.

Jean focused on Armin, refusing to make Armin beg for attention.  He dragged his hands to the buttons of Armin’s jeans and unbuttoned them.  Armin shimmied out of them as Jean helped him pull them down.  Jean rolled the fabric over his feet and laughed when he saw his socks.

“Are those… unicorns?” Jean asked.

“Leave me alone!  I haven’t bought socks since sophomore year of high school!”

It wasn’t terribly surprising.  Armin said multiple times that the only reason why he was in school was that he got several handsome scholarships.  When he wasn’t wearing his student or show coordinator hats, he was working.  Why would he buy new socks?

Jean gently took the socks off and placed them on the dresser.

“How polite,” Armin said.

Jean grinned, glancing at his blue and green cotton panties.  “What do you want?  Is my mouth okay?” he asked.

“Depends,” Armin said, laying down on the bed.  He grabbed Jean by the collar and pulled him closer, “Do you know how to use it?”

Jean stuck out his tongue and curled it.

“Don’t you ever do that again,” Armin growled.

Jean continued wagging it at him.

“I swear to God, Jean!” Armin exclaimed.

Jean stopped, only to yank Armin’s underwear down and open up his legs.  He brought his face in-between his legs and ran his tongue down the center.  He felt his stomach flip when he heard Armin let out a breathy sigh.

“So you do know what you’re doing,” Armin replied, sitting further on Jean’s face.

Jean resisted a snide remark in favor of taking a longer lick than the first.

If the world operated in a way that was kind to Jean, he would have happily stayed in that position and entirely focused on Armin.  And yet, the parts of his brain hung up on Marco still went off.  He said he wouldn’t bring him up when they were together, and he really shouldn’t allow himself to think about him.  And yet all he could remember was a passing conversation he had with Marco when they were knee-deep in textbooks and hopped up caffeinated beverages with illegal amounts of uppers in them during midterms last semester.  But he heard it while Marco was going through environmental science Powerpoints.

“I think I want to… do it… with what I got,” Marco murmured, rubbing the bridge of his nose.  “I mean, it’s not what I want.  Def want to change it.  But I’d like to use it if I find someone that makes me feel comfortable enough.”  He laughed nervously.  “Sorry, it’s after two am, I’m not held responsible for what I say anymore.”

And Jean, because he was a boy, a lovesick boy over the one that was talking to him, blurted out, ‘Would you let someone… uh… go in?”

Marco shrugged.  “It would have to be a case-by-case basis.  But I’d be pretty into someone going down on me.”

When Jean heard that, he laughed helplessly and continued working on his essay.

If Jean was any good at human contact, at least that kind of intimate human contact, he would have inquired further.  But he didn’t.

Maybe it was the universe trying to set up something different for him.  Something more like the person moaning loudly with no desire to cover his face with pillows.  Whose fingers were twisted around the longer bits of his hair.  Who was able to get this moment to happen, because he texted him if he wanted to hook up and apparently has the strongest, sturdiest relationship of all time provided he’s done fooling around by bedtime.

Jean didn’t want to feel envious, especially when he was enjoying himself with this person.  But he still did.

Thankfully, his lengthy introspection did not impede his ability to give oral, because Armin grabbed him tighter, his legs trembling as he orgasmed.  His moans became higher as he folded himself over Jean.  Jean continued flicking his tongue over Armin, refusing to stop until Armin pushed his face out of the way.

“Thanks,” Armin said, pushing his hair back, “Do you got a condom on you?”

Jean flinched, realizing how hard he was.  He grabbed at the sheets that they kicked all over and groaned.  “I left them in my room.”

“Are you <i>kidding</i> me?” Armin asked, “Sorry.  I just have dental dams and stuff on me.”

Jean nearly rolled off the bed as he slipped his t-shirt back on and tied a sweatshirt over his hips, strategically tying the sleeves over the front of them.  He bolted through the living room (thankfully empty), kitchen (Annie was watching water boil), and the hall (also empty) before he barrelled into his own room, greeted by Connie.

“Don’t look at me!” Jean yelled, ripping open the drawer of his bedside table to grab a condom and stuffed it in his pocket.

Connie glared.  “Dude, whatever, everyone knows you’re hooking up with Armin right now.”

Jean yelped as he charged out of the room, ignoring the fact that Annie turned her head toward him, and returning to Armin’s room.  He closed the door as quietly as his adrenaline would allow before he noticed Armin.  Armin was down to his binder and nothing else, pulling his hair back.  His blond roots formed a halo over his head as he pulled his hair into a small green tuft on the back of his head.

Jean didn’t want to use the word pretty to describe him.  It seemed like a word he would scrunch his nose up in response to.  But there was something beautiful about the way that his wrists bent and his eyelashes caught the light of the lamp by his bed.  He didn’t need a moratorium on talking about Marco.  He had someone in front of him that he could be in absolute awe of, because he was an individual.  There was no need to distract himself with Marco any longer.  

He didn’t accept this invitation, because he was desperate for affection.  He wasn’t trying to forget a crush.  He accepted it, because there was something about Armin that he wanted to further explore a relationship with.  Whatever kind of relationship Armin was comfortable with.

As much as he hated to say it, Eren was really lucky to have him.

“Got one!” Jean exclaimed, pulling it out of his pocket.  He dropped the hoodie on the floor and climbed into bed.

Armin sighed and wrapped his arms around him.  “Thank fuck,” he whispered, pulling him down to kiss him.

Jean happily grabbed him by the hips and rolled him on top.  Armin pulled his shirt off and pressed up against him as he proceeded to kiss his lips, his jaw, and that sensitive part on the side of his neck that made him gasp every time.

Jean grabbed at Armin’s thighs, rubbing his thumbs over the stretch marks and soft hairs on the top half of his legs.

“I love your legs,” Jean whispered when he could catch his breath.

“Did you come to this conclusion just now or when I was sitting on your face?”

“You’re filthy,” Jean noted, “I’m going to have to clean your mouth out.”

Armin froze for a second and laughed.  “Ew,” he said, wincing.

“Not hot enough for you?” Jean asked, “I could clean your mouth with my own.  Then fold you across my lap and spank you.  How does that sound?”

Armin’s eyes widened, his mouth forming a flat line.  “Ah… hm.  Why don’t we stay a little quieter?  We’ve been talking nonstop.  Might as well keep focused.”

Jean laughed nervously.  “Yeah.  I guess so.”

“Promise me?”

“...Totally,” Jean replied, running his fingers across his mouth to imply zipping his lips as he leaned in to kiss Armin.  Armin ducked his head and kissed Jean’s neck, scraping his teeth against his skin.  Jean let out a soft gasp, gripping his hands around Armin’s shoulders.  

“Let me lead,” Armin whispered as his lips popped off his skin.

Jean eased up, relaxing his body as Armin laid him down and calmly unbutton his pants and slide them off.  Jean helped get them over his feet and proceeded to remove his underwear.  Armin climbed further on top of him, curling his own fingers into himself.  He rubbed his other hand against himself, making eye contact with Jean for a brief moment before he shut his eyes and made a low moan.

Jean watched in awe of Armin having so much control over his body.  Even with his interactions with Jean, he was in control and good at guessing what would appeal to Jean.

Armin continued to slip his fingers in and out of himself.  He eventually gasped and pointed at the condom Jean left on the nightstand.  Jean grabbed it and ripped it open, dividing his attention between slipping it on and watching Armin’s mouth open wide as he let out tiny noises.  When Armin saw that Jean was prepared he slipped his fingers out of himself and grabbed Jean’s length, lining it up with himself before he lowered himself onto it.

Jean let out a low groan, covering his mouth with his arm as Armin began to rock up and down.  He shut his eyes and listened to Armin contently making soft noises.

Jean opened his eyes again and wrapped his hands around Armin’s wrists.  Armin nodded his head and Jean gripped tighter, rolling his hips into his.

“F-fuck,” Armin murmured, gasping sharply, “Don’t be afraid… to go harder.”

Jean nodded, thrusting harder in response.

Armin squealed, moving faster against him.  He pulled himself out of Jean’s grasp to dig his nails into his arms.  Jean gasped, nodding his head to let Armin know he didn’t mind.

Jean continued to roll his hips, transfixed on Armin moving on top of him.  He finally faltered when he felt himself about to get off.  “<i>Shit</i>,” he hissed.

“Almost done?”

“Yeah.  Sorry.  Don’t do this often.”

Armin shrugged, pressing his lips against Jean’s.  Jean broke the kiss as he came, burrowing his face into Armin’s shoulder as he moaned.  They stayed like that for a moment, Jean letting the waves of sensation leave him.  He pulled away from Armin’s shoulder and Armin slipped off him.  He smiled, mussing his hair before he said, “I’ll be right back.”  He slid off the bed, grabbing his underwear and Jean’s shirt to wear as he got out of the room.

Jean contemplated asking him if he had no shame, but he knew Armin would just roll his eyes and say, “Not really, no.”

Jean looked up at the map again, looking at all the places marked off in South America.  He sighed, rolling the condom off of him and tossing it in a wad of tissues before he threw it out.

Armin returned, fitting himself against Jean’s shoulder.  He pulled the blankets over the both of them, grazing kisses along his neck.

Jean reached over to brush his hand against Armin’s cheek.  “And Eren is supposed to sleep in these sheets?”

Armin giggled.  “Whoever hooks up in the bed has to change the sheets by bedtime.”

Jean shrugged.  “Fair enough,” he said.  He squinted at the clock, realizing that it was about ten thirty.  “Should you try to tell Eren we’re done?”

Armin nodded.  “Yeah.  Good idea.  Do you have anything else you want to talk about?”

He considered asking if they could have another session sometime soon, but it wasn’t the note he wanted to end it on.  Instead he moved himself toward Armin’s chest, listening to his heartbeat several times before he spoke.  “So… before you kick me out, please… do you and Eren do this often?”

“Sleep with people that aren’t each other?  Sometimes.  We’ll go a month or two where we do it a lot, or one of us will, at least… then we won’t for awhile.  It all depends.”

“Can I ask why?”

Armin sat up and sighed.  “You know, this is usually why we don’t talk about it.”

“No, I mean… I just… I don’t know.  I’m trying to make sense of this stuff for myself.  And, like.  How I feel about this type of stuff.  Do you just do it to have sex with other people?  Because, like.  That makes sense.  You fell in love in high school.  And if you’re… I don’t know.  What’s the word?  A polygamist.  That’s cool, too.”

“Polyamorous, Jean.  The word is polyamorous.  As in, I am polyamorous.”

“<i>Shit</i>.  I’m sorry.  I just… what is it?  If you don’t mind me asking.”

“A bit of both?” Armin asked, “I like having sex with Eren.  And other people.  And while we haven’t had another partner, I’ve liked other people <i>as well as</i> him.  And hopefully there is someone out there that likes me and at least tolerates him enough to be with us.  But it’s not necessarily going to happen.  And I’m okay with it.”

“So he’s good enough?”

Armin nodded without any hesitation.  “And hopefully I’m always good enough for him.”  He leaned higher up on the headboard.  “I know you two fight more often than not, but… I love him.”  He smiled, his cheeks turning pink.  “I love him so much.”  His voice became soft, as if this was the part that he didn’t want anyone in the house overhearing.  “I want to travel to anywhere and everywhere with him.  I want to live in a shitty apartment in the city with him.  I want to… I don’t know.  Be happy.  With him.  And like… it’s hard for me to be happy.  For whatever reason.  But he gets that.  And that means everything to me.”

Jean sighed, pressing his face into the crook of his neck.

“Did I strike a nerve?” Armin asked.

“Not really?  I don’t know.  It must be nice… having someone who loves you a whole lot.  Even the not so great parts.”

“It is,” Armin confessed, “But we don’t have to end on this note.”

Jean shrugged, lifting his head so he could catch the tail end of Armin’s smiling.  He realized that if he could, Armin would probably never stop talking about Eren.  And while wouldn't know the same for him, he appreciated sharing an evening with someone who could produce that much care toward another person.

 

*

 

The next day, Jean was walking through the aisles of a department store, muttering to himself.  Marco had said that he needed something of some sort and Jean offered to drive.  He was constantly adjusting the collar of his shirt, hoping he could go the entire shopping trip without Marco noticing the marks from the night before.

“So you said you wanted to pick up a pair of socks?” Marco asked.

Jean shrugged.  Under normal and not “crap, I’m falling for my hookup buddy” circumstances, he would have been honest.  It would be another gift to a friend and nothing more.  But it really wasn’t.

“Can I help you?” Marco asked.  He leaned against the handles of the shopping cart toward him.

“No.  I’m good.”  He found a striped set with each pair having a stripe of the same blue as Armin’s eyes.  He tossed it in the shopping cart and walked forward.

“They’re nice!” Marco chirped, “They look like they might be a little small if they’re for you, though.”

“Not for me,” he mumbled.

“Well!  I hope whoever they’re for likes it!” Marco replied, smiling as he followed Jean down the aisle.

 

*

 

Jean wrapped up the socks in tissue paper from a leftover birthday gift and tucked it under his arm.  He entered the kitchen and grabbed a snack, knowing that Armin was most likely in the living room nearby studying.

Instead, he heard Armin talking.  Another voice was responding to him.

“You remembered my order!” Armin exclaimed.  The scrapping of a styrofoam container opening squeaked.

“How could I forget?  It’s Hot Dog Tuesday!”

Jean shoved half of his granola bar into his mouth.  Once upon a time, he really thought that Eren was the worst thing that could happen to Armin.  He was rude, angry, and had a tendency of picking fights with nearly everyone.  But even then, he never pulled any of that behavior with Armin.

He was pretty sure that it was love, but it was also a partnership.  And that kind of bond didn’t usually give much room for another person.

He looked down to the small package under his arm.  It wasn’t that he wanted Eren out of the picture.  He just wished he had some way of fitting between the two of them.

There was shuffling around in the other room, styrofoam clipping a surface.  Then the sound of Armin gasping and lips smacking together.

Jean finished the granola bar and crinkled the wrapper in his hand, blocking out the sound as best as he could.  He tossed it in the trash and slammed his feet back to his room.  He swung the door open, thankful that Connie and Marco were nowhere to be seen.  He tossed the package in his closet.  When he wasn’t pleased with that, he covered it with a jacket he never wore and a pair of shorts he wasn’t going to need until it got warmer.  

He flopped on the bed and buried his face in his pillow.  He assumed throwing it in the garbage would be more final, but he didn’t have the heart.

 


End file.
